Piano-player-roll container



F. w, MILLER. JPIAN O PLAYER ROLL CONTAINER APPLICATION HLED APR. 17, 1919.

1,374,462, Patented Apr. 12,1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

' awwzmtoz F. W. MILLER.

PIANO PLAYER ROLL CONTAINER. APPLICATION FlLED.APR .17, 1919.

1,374,462. Patented Apr. 12, 1921'.

' a s SHEETS-SHEET 2 m2- lm/knew F. W. MILLER.

PIANO PLAYER ROLL CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. n, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- UNITED STATES- PATENT oFFic .nnnn w. MILLER, onxnnmonn, NEW Yonignssrenon T CLIMAX cABInE'r'coM- PANY Inc, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK. 1

rIA o-PLAYERQRQL as umes.

To all whomz'tmay concern: P v

Be itlknown that LFREDfW. MILLER, ,a

i 1 Citizen of the United States,residing at Kenmore, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Piano-Player-Roll Container, of which the following is a specification. 1 7

The device forming'the subject matter of this application is'adapted to be employed for displaying conveniently, music rollsof the sort usedin connection with mechanical pianos, organs, music boxes and-the'liken v One objectof theinvention' is to provlde novelmeansfor holding the music rolls on the conveyer. or carrier chains.

Another obj ect is to provide means whereby the rolls will :be prevented from unwinding while they are on the carrier chains, v i i v nother object of theinvention is soto construct the carriers that rolls of different diameters may be accommodated readily. A further objectof the invention is'to provide an indicating mechanism whereby, the" operator at will, may bring any'desired roll to the top of the cabinet for removaly General improvements in -"devicesof the kind de scribed are contemplated, and will manifest themselves as the description proceeds;

Within the scope of what is claimed, changes prompted by the skill ofa mechanic may be made, without departing from the I spiritof the invention,

'In the drawings I p c Figure 1 shows in front elevation, a music cabinet constructed in accordance with the invention, parts being broken "away and partsappearing in'section; Fig. 2 'is-a vertical section in a planejextended from the front of the cabinet'to the back thereof; Fig. 3 is an elevation showing a portion of the carrier, aimusic rollbeing mounted therein, and parts appearing in section; Fig. i'is an elevation" showing the indicating mechanism; Fig. 5 is a vertical-"section taken through the structure shown in Fig. 4:; Fig. 6 is a sectional ,detail disclosingthe part of the carrier and the music roll, together with the means for preventing the roll from un-,

- i V Specification of Letters Patent.

' intense Ap 1 2-, 1 9 21,

Application filed April 17, 1919. Serial No. 290,801.

The invention comprises a cabinet, de-

noted generally by the numeral; 1 and in cluding' a box-like body 2 and a lid 3', hinged atits rear edge, as shownat 4;, to the body 2; Any desired number o-fhcarriers forthe music roller may be. Provided, but since the carriers are al ke, but one carrier will be mentioned in the following descriptioni 7 Standards '5 aremountedfon the upper end of the cabinet 1,:at the front and at the backthereoflbeneath the lid and in the upper ends ofthe standards,=a main'shaft 6, is journaled' forTrot'ation, the shaft being held against endwise movement by collars '7 ing withthe upper' ends of the standards '5, the standards, obviously, constituting bearings' for the main shaft. The forward end of the main shaft'6'is provided with a cross vor the like, attached to'the shaft and coacthavinghub's'12 attached tothefshaft 6 by 7 means of securingelementsillr, the.- Wheels 11 having peripheral seats 15'. The inven-' tion' contemplates the use of a carrier, made up of two chains comprising links 16, each link b'eing offset atone end, as shown at 17 i to overlapthe corresponding end of'an'adjoining link, the ends ofthe links being con nectedby pivot elements 18. Cross members 19 arerov'ided, the same havingrecdisposed ends 20 mounted to swing on the'pivot elements 18'. 'The cross members 19, therefore, may be describedcas being mounted eccentrically at their] ends, on the chains of the carrier. The cross merobers 19' of the carrier are connected by re-- tractile springs 21. Q In oppositely disposed links 16 of the carrier chains, support s'22 are mounted. For convenience'm' manufacture, the supports 22 onthe respective chains are'alike, andare 'of tubular form, thesupports beingcontracted at their'outer ends as v shown at 23, and being provided at their outer ends with openings 24. In the supports 22 of one carrier chain, plungers are mounted to reciprocate, the plungers being supplied at their inner ends with heads 26. Compression springs 27 surround the plungers 25 and are located in the corresponding supports 22, the outer extremities of the springs abutting against the contracted ends 23 of the supports, and the inner ends of the springs abutting against the heads 26 of the plungers 25.

The numeral 40 marks a spool of the kind commonly constituting a part of a music roll, the spool carrying a sheet 41 wound on the spool. One end of the spool 40. is placed on the support 22 which, as shown inFig. 3, is devoid, of a spring-actuated plunger, the other end of the spool being engagednby the head 26 of the plunger 25.

Obviously, by' retracting the plunger 25, the

music rolls can be mounted on the carrier and be disengaged therefrom without difficulty. Referring particularly to Fig. 6, it canbeseen that theretractile springs 21 whichconnect the cross members 19 of the carrier, bear on the sheet 41 of the spool4O and prevent ,the sheet, from unwinding.

' There is a distinct advantage in supplying the cross'members 19 with the offset ends 20 whichare mounted on the pivot elements 1 18. ,Since the cross members 19 are terminally mounted, eccentrically, on the chains ofthe carrier, the cross members can move toward andaaway from each. other transversely, thereby adapting the carrier to'accommodate music rolls of different diameters. When the crank 10 is applied to the forwardlyprojecting end of the shaft 6, the, shaft 6 and the sprocket wheels 11 will be rotated. The supports 22 project .be-

yond the respective carrier chains and are wheels.

received in the seats 15 of the sprocket The supports 22, therefore, exercise a double function, in that they constitute a means for holding the music rolls on the carrier, and constitute, also, a means whereby the carrier is operatively connected with the sprocket wheels. It will be clear that when the shaft 6 is rotated as afore-v said, along with the sprocket wheel 11, the carriers will be operated, thus bringing one music roll after another up to the top of the.

body 2 of the cabinet so that any music roll maybe removed at will. When thelid 3 is, closed on the body 2 all of the music rollsare housed in and shielded against-dust and against damage from any other cause.

The invention includes an indicating mechanism, wherebyv the operator may be advised when any particular roll has arrived at a position at the top of the cabinet. This indicating mechanism includes a fixed pointer or index 28 secured at 29 to the forward standard 5, the shaft 6 passing through the index. The shaft 6 serves to 1 prevent the index from swinging on the se-.

wheel 33 mounted to rotate on the shaft 6 I and meshing into a pinion 34 secured to an auxillary shaft 35 journaled in the lower end of a hanger 36 carried by the shaft 6,

the shaft being rotatable in the upper end of the hanger. A gear wheel 37 is secured to the shaft 35, the gear wheel37 and the pinion 34 being'located on opposite sides of the lower endof the. hanger '36. The

gear wheel37 meshes into a pinion 38 "secured at 39 to the corresponding sprocket wheel 11 at the front of the cabinet. When the shaft 6 rotated, rotation will beimparted to the sprocket wheel 11 (Figs.

4 and 5) as aforesaid, the sprocket wheel 11 rotating the pinion38 and the pinion 38 rotating the gear wheel37. From the gear wheel 37, rotation. is imparted to the pinion 34 byway of the shaft 35, the pinion 34 rotating the gear wheel 33and the dial 30,

so that the scale 31 thereof cooperates with the upper end of the fixed index 28. The combined weight of the lower end of the hanger 36, the pinion 34 and the gearwheel 37 is sufficient to maintain the hanger in the depending position shown inFig. 5 and to prevent the hanger from swinging on the shaft 6 when the'operation l ast-above-described takes place. It will be clear that if the music rolls arefnumbered, and are placed in the upper location on the carrier, the operator, glancing at the place where the index 28 cooperates with. the dial 30 can ascertain when any desired music roll has arrived at the top .of the cabinet.

Having thus described the invention, what is-claimed is i 1. A device of the class described comprising a frame;.a shaft journaled therein; wheels on the shaft and having peripheral notches; endless conveyers; tubular supports mounted intermediate their endsin the'conveyers, the outer ends of the-supports being received in the notches of the wheels to form a driving. connection between the wheels and the conveyers, the inner end of one'support constitutingrmeans for engaging one end of a music roll; and a plunger mounted in the other support and constitutingmeans for engaging'the opposite endof a music roll, the tubular construction of the sup orts permitting the plunger to be mounte in either'support at the will of (an operator.v Y

2. A device of the class described. comprising a frame; a shaft therein; endless conveyers cooperating With'the shaft and having music r011 supporting means; connections having their ends pivoted eccentrically to the conveyers, whereby the con- 5 nections may be swung toward and away from each other, transversely, thereby to accommodate music rolls of different diameters; and retractile members uniting the connections and constituting retainers for the free ends of the sheets of the music ro1ls.10 In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature.

FRED W. MILLER; 

